At 26, they told me I had an MPN and to take a pill. So I took it. At 29, they told me I had a different MPN and to take another pill. So I took it. At 38, I listened to what they had to say. And then I researched, I questioned, I consulted, I paid attention to my labs, my symptoms, my daily ups and downs, and I researched some more before I decided with them how to manage my health. “They,” of course, are the knowledgeable MPN specialists wearing crisp white coats. Like many MPN patients, I’ve...

Andrew with Dick and Carole Crew near Seattle just before Dick’s stem cell transplant in Summer 2014 Just two weeks ago, I wrote of losing an old television colleague to liver cancer. From diagnosis to death was less than two months. Today I am writing about the death this past weekend of another old friend and mentor, Dick Crew, who fought diffuse large B-cell lymphoma for about a year. While I have been so fortunate to live with two chronic blood cancers, my friends' versions of malignancies took them much too quickly and with conditions where we have made less...

Joel Blank By Carol Preston I lost the dearest of friends last month. For those of you connected with the life sciences, you may know the name Joel Blank, a Yale-educated PhD who helped develop and win FDA approval for MRI, magnetic resonance imaging. Joel also co-founded five start-up companies. But Joel’s true passion was his family: Paula, his wife of 52 years, daughters Stephanie (Jay Musoff) and Carolyn (David) Morris, and most especially his four grandchildren—Madeleine, Charlie, Gracie and Will. Joel poured his heart and soul into loving his family and creating memories. Will the rest of us do...

I am a two-time cancer survivor, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myelofibrosis. I think about cancer almost every day as I wonder what the future may hold and how I am feeling that day. I think about my friends with cancer too. Of course I am thrilled the publicity around World Cancer Day can heighten awareness for all. Maybe it will help some people avoid cancer by promoting healthy lifestyles, or encourage them to get early diagnosis that could save their life, or allow them to get access to state-of-the-art, often breakthrough treatments, or get the emotional support they or family members need....

I am a two-time cancer survivor of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myelofibrosis. I think about cancer almost every day as I wonder what the future may hold and how I am feeling that day. I think about my friends with cancer, too. Of course, I am thrilled that the publicity around World Cancer Day can heighten awareness for all. Maybe it will help some people avoid cancer by promoting healthy lifestyles, or encourage them to get early diagnosis that could save their life, or allow them to get access to state-of-the-art, often breakthrough treatments, or get the emotional support they...

Dr. Oliver Press recently discussed immuno-oncology with Patient Power Experts say there is tremendous promise in stimulating a patient’s own immune system to fight their cancer. A few new drugs are already on the market in this area for conditions like advanced melanoma and some subtypes of lung cancer. We have a town meeting discussing this for lung cancer on March 7th in Tampa and a melanoma one on March 28th in Phoenix. In blood cancers, hematologists also see great promise for this approach as we heard from many at the recent American Society of Hematology meeting. And, earlier, Dr. Oliver Press spoke...

My friend Brad Stafford I wasn’t always a medical journalist. And I wasn’t always a cancer patient. Although, as I am lucky enough to age, it seems like a very long time. Yes, I began telling patient medical stories for a living in 1984 and became a leukemia patient in 1996. But my career actually started in Charlotte, NC in 1972 as a young television news reporter. Eventually, the leaders at WBTV News gave me the wonderful chance to not only host and produce human interest features stories but also to travel anywhere I wanted in North Carolina and South...

Editor's Note: This blog was first published on pharmaphorum.com. As the numbers surviving cancer increase, the onus must be on ensuring that the pathways are in place to treat the whole patient and not just the disease, to ensure they and their families have the support necessary to aid the best transition back to everyday life. As therapies improve, ever greater numbers of people are surviving cancer. These people need support right through from time of diagnosis and post cancer treatment. A total of 14.5 million survivors of cancer were alive in the US on 1st January 2014, with that...